United States of America (WOD)
The United States of America is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Overview The U.S. is the most frequently described region in the World of Darkness. New England A region of contrasts, New England houses dead factory towns and the Green Mountains, has a reverence for tradition and boasts a Malkavian prince in its biggest city. Heavily infiltrated by the Sabbat, Massachusetts contains a large portion of the region's high-tech industry and population. Further north, Maine is entirely Sabbat, but this means little; most of the state's human and Kindred population is clustered "Down East," far from ravaging Lupines. Connecticut is the most prosperous non-Sabbat state in New England, but it does border on the Sabbat-controlled New York. The home of many insurance agencies and financial houses, as well as a great many wealthy ghouls who commute to New York daily, Connecticut is a staging point and supply dump for New York City's beleaguered Ventrue. Mid-Atlantic States Sabbat-infiltrated if not controlled, the most densely populated region of the country is also among its most violent, particularly in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Camden. The last was purged of its Kindred population during the late '70s and early '80s by a band of hunters with a predilection for arson, but the last few Camarilla vampires in Philadelphia have since fled across the Delaware to take up residence. At the southern border of this region rests Washington, D.C., so far theoretically immune to the Sabbat's depredations. The South There is a difference between the South, which can be defined as the areas around the charming cities of the Atlantic Seaboard such as Charlotte, Charleston, Richmond and Atlanta; Appalachia, which rests to the west, nestled in the Appalachian Highlands; and the Deep South, consisting of the Florida Panhandle and states like Mississippi and Alabama. Southern Florida, with its dense populations of Cuban immigrants and elderly retirees from the Northeast, is not considered to be part of the South at all. Unlike the other two regions, "the South" is relentlessly progressive, economically speaking, as jobs and industry migrate southward in search of lower costs and more relaxed environmental standards. With these industries, the Ventrue have moved en masse as well, attended by Toreador and Tremere who also sense opportunities. The Deep South, on the other hand, is predominantly rural, with only a smattering of industry in cities like Birmingham. What Kindred exist outside the industrial areas tend to be Gangrel or Nosferatu. These vampires also predominate in Appalachia, though that territory is unquestionably Lupinedominated. In the cities are ragtag Ventrue and Brujah in equal numbers; the former from the heritage of plantation owners, the latter from the convicts who were the original colonists of Georgia. The Great Plains Neatly purged of Kindred during the 1930s, the Great Plains have only rebuilt their unliving populations during the past three decades. Kansas City and St. Louis, in particular, have heavy vampiric populations. The large number of Kindred in Kansas City is at least somewhat understandable, given the wholesale slaughter of cattle that is one of the city's main industries. St. Louis, on the other hand, is more of a puzzle, particularly since its Camarilla contingent is heavily tilted toward Brujah and Nosferatu. Further north, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are Ventrue-dominated to an extent unmatched anywhere else in North America. Current rumor holds that a nonaggression pact has been struck with the city's Glass Walker Lupines, leading to unprecedented cooperation between the two Awakened species. The effects of that supposed cooperation are potent indeed; the Twin Cities are prosperous, clean and popular hunting grounds. There is a small anarch free state centered around Madison, Wisconsin, with a bare dozen or so permanent residents. Ruled by a balding, stooped and feathered Gangrel who goes by the nickname "Vulture," the Madison Free State is, however, a home base for more than 20 anarch gangs who use it to reload, refuel and recruit. The Southwest Much of American industry, when it relocates domestically, comes to the American Southwest. Phoenix in particular is a hub for Kindred-influenced firms. However, southwestern Camarilla Kindred tend to keep strictly to city borders for several reasons. Outside their cities are heavy Uktena and Wendigo presences, and the greater part of the Sabbat's strength rests just across the Mexican border. Indeed, part of western Texas has already fallen to the Sabbat, and certain of the more paranoid Kindred of cities like Dallas and Albuquerque wonder what's keeping them from taking more. In all probability, those Camarilla worthies would be much happier not knowing the answer to their question: A council of six Lasombra antitribu, all under deep cover in the Sabbat, meets annually in Santa Fe to discuss ways to keep the border stable. All six of these vampires are at least of conquistador vintage, and no one has yet uncovered their motive for thwarting the persistent Sabbat initiative. After all, they are conclusively not linked with the Camarilla, having deliberately funneled the influx of new Kindred into Phoenix and Tucson rather than allowing it to spread across the entire region. Those few Inconnu who are aware of this council of six are watching them very carefully, and there has been some debate as to what these vampires uncovered so long ago that they are trying so hard to protect from others' influences. A geographic oddity persists in the state of Utah: The entire state is devoid of Kindred. Camarilla, Sabbat, unaligned - it doesn't matter. There are no vampires anywhere in Utah. At least, there aren't any that anyone knows about. California Free State Home of the first and most successful Anarch Revolt in North America, the California Free State had its genesis in Los Angeles. However, the tide of revolt soon swept up and down the state, and today all of the Redwood State is either independent or contested. San Francisco in particular is a contested city, but the war there is more political than overt. Deals are made in clubs and boardrooms as the Camarilla attempts to purchase, rather than conquer, the City by the Bay. The rest of the state is less than safe for most Kindred. While the freedom from Camarilla strictures can be exhilarating at first, the lack of structure provides room for bully-gangs of Brujah and Gangrel (most of whom, ironically, wander in groups reminiscent of Sabbat packs) to pick off visitors and immigrants. The Pacific Northwest While Oregon is firmly in Camarilla hands, Washington state is up for grabs. Threatened by the strong Technomancer presence outside Seattle, the vampires of Washington have turned in among themselves. Unsure of whom to ally with or which enemy is most pressing, they war among themselves in a constant series of anarch uprisings that unseat prince after prince. Many disaffected anarchs flee here from California, and their discontent helps keep the pot bubbling. Prominent Cities * Atlanta, Georgia (described in Buried Secrets and Necropolis: Atlanta, and prominently featured in the Clan Novel Saga) * Boston, Massachusetts (described in Dark Colony and ) * Chicago, Illinois (described in Chicago By Night, Under a Blood Red Moon, Chicago By Night Second Edition and The Book of Chantries) * Denver, Colorado (described in Alien Hunger) * Gary, Indiana (described in Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook and Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition) * Las Vegas, Nevada (described in ) * Los Angeles, California (described in Los Angeles by Night, and prominently featured in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines) * Milwaukee, Wisconsin (described in Milwaukee By Night) * New Orleans, Louisiana (described in New Orleans By Night) * New York City, New York (described in Werewolf: The Apocalypse Rulebook, Rage Across New York, Werewolf: The Apocalypse Second Edition, A World of Darkness Second Edition, New York By Night, and The Ventrue Chronicle; and prominently featured in Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York, and the Clan Novel Saga) * San Francisco, California (described in A World of Darkness, Mage: The Ascension Rulebook, Changeling: The Dreaming Rulebook and San Francisco By Night, and prominently featured in numerous novels and short stories published from 1994-1997) * Santa Monica, California (prominently featured in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines) * Seattle, Washington (prominently featured in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2) * Washington, DC (described in DC By Night, and prominently featured in the Clan Novel Saga) References *WOD: A World of Darkness Second Edition, p. 5-8 Category:World of Darkness geography